D&D 5E Pros and Cons of using the average damage on the Monster's stat block.

[Dausuul]

My experience has been that using average monster damage speeds up play a heck of a lot, and the cost (in terms of making combat more predictable and boring) is not significant.

So, I would go with option 3: Allow the players to use average damage instead of rolling. Of course, players have to declare this ahead of time--they can't roll damage and then take the average because they rolled badly! You'll also need to address things like Great Weapon style and Elemental Adept, which key off the damage roll.

 

[Sunseeker]

It really depends on the ability. Average damage is mathematically "half" which I think makes it underwhelming. I regularly roll far above half when I use a dragon's breath weapon. EX: The dragon's breath weapon is 12d10, 120 maximum. The "average" is 66 (5.5 per die), that's also what you would save at if you took maximum damage. When I roll, I generally roll between 80 and 90 damage.

I don't mind using a fixed number for lower dice rolls, it saves a lot of trouble when running numerous monsters. But I feel like it really cheats the larger creatures of the OMG HOLY WTF!!! factor, so for them I usually use average x1.5 It brings breath weapons up into the "this is a real threat to your life, even if you save it still hurts!" Which is where it should be.

But there is certainly a good amount of time saved by not rolling. I even did it when playing a sorcerer, it was much faster and I would encourage any DM to limit new players who are playing casters to use fixed numbers instead of dice. It's much easier to read a sheet and say "it does 10 points!" instead of them searching for dice, trying to find how many to roll, having to borrow more dice and then going to add it up...etc...

I also maximize damage for people who roll nat 1's on saves.

 

[georbit]

Hmm... I like that. Nat 1 on saves, max damage. Have you killed anyone that way?

 

[Mouseferatu]

I dislike using average damage, as both a DM and a player. I find the extra time to roll the damage is more than worth it, and I like the extra uncertainty, the extra tension. I've had several times recently where a low damage roll on the part of a monster made the difference between a PC dropping or not. Those encounters were far more exciting due to that extra uncertainty than they would have been without it.

 

[Warbringer]

On mass die rolls (like fireball), sure.

I've always played "active rolls", so AC is a defensive check, so I just roll monster damage and tell the players the target to avoid the damage

Players roll damage dice when they roll their attack... It's great for player frustration

 

[Bupp]

To save time rolling damage, just roll the damage die with the roll to hit.

I have my players doing it as well when they attack and it speeds things up. They roll and say "I got a 15 to hit and rolled 6 damage". Then I announce if it hits or not.

The only problems it causes are when they rolled low to hit but rolled max damage. That annoys the hell out of them.

 

[Sunseeker]

Hmm... I like that. Nat 1 on saves, max damage. Have you killed anyone that way?

No. We haven't fought anything big enough yet. It's a new rule since the last game I ran and we're still rather low level (no fireballs even yet!). But since spells can't crit I mostly came up with it for spellcasters so that they'd be able to crit, but in a different way than martials.

 

[georbit]

Spells with an attack can crit. Just not spells with a DC.

It's still faster to roll, then look down at the page and say you take X damage, instead of having to roll the damage dice, add that up and then add the modifier that most have.

 

[leinadvirgo]

I dont see why you have to make a decision. I mix it up throughout the fight. Typically if pcs are fresh I tend to use averages because even max damage is not a threat. I also tend to use average numbers if the enemies are mook/fillers; basically if an NPC has a number next to its name (Goblin 1, goblin 2 goblin 3...) it gets average damage.

rolling damage adds tension and is a great tool to use if players or enemies are low on health. because its a tool you can always catch players off guard if you change the norm "doesn't the gm normally average damage for goblins? why is he rolling damage now?" BOOM Dragon appears and fire breath.

 

[GameOgre]

I roll or use the average on my whim. I let it be known that that is my rule from the start.

Now in practice I use it as a tool to help me keep things challenging for the party but not overwhelmingly lethal. If the party is having a easy time of it I might roll for every hit or just the badguy captains. On the other hand if they combine encounters due to bad luck or a bad roll of the dice and they are in a bad place, I might use average the entire time.

The one constant I use is doing what is fun. For me or for them. If they start meta-gaming it I might just switch it up in the middle of a manticors attack chain!